Embroidery Hoops - SRM Stickers

Hello! Today I am up on the SRM Stickers blog with a home decor project. I had three embroidery hoops in various sizes on hand and decided to fill them with pretty paper:

I added washi tape, SRM Stickers, and a bit of mist.

These pretty papers are by DCWV, from the Magnolia Way stack. To fill the hoops, I used the inside hoop to trace a circle onto the patterned paper. Then I drew another circle around that, about 1/4 inch larger. I cut out the circle using the outside line as a guide, and then I used my scissors to snip into the circle from the outside edge to the inner circle. Many, many snips later, the paper is able to "curve" and fit into the hoop nicely.

You can see my post up on the SRM Stickers blog here. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Handmade Gift Pledge 2012

Last January while Facebook surfing, I came across a handmade gift pledge. You probably saw it, too. The one that said:

Pay it forward 2012: I, (your name goes here), will give something handmade by me to the first 5 friends who leave a comment here. They must in turn, post this on their status and send something to the first 5 friends who comment on their status. The rules are that it must be handmade and delivered in 2012!

I don't always get caught up in these kinds of things, but this one sounded fun. I commented on my friend, Diana's post and then posted on my own page. I quickly got my five friends and after a few days of thought, I knew what I wanted to make. It was something new, something I hadn't made before. Problem was, I was really busy. I thought I could put it off until summer. Summer came and went. Then I figured once school was in full swing I would be able to find time. Ha! That never happened. Determined to stick to my promise, I finally went to the craft store to pick up what I needed at the beginning of December. I collected all of my materials in a basket and whenever I had a few minutes, I sat down to create. Over a couple of weeks I was able to finish all six (I made one for Diana, too) gifts. And here they are:

For Diana:

For Amanda:

For Audrey:

For Aubry:

For Shannon:

For Heather:

I think I had even more fun with the packaging than I did with the hoops :). I learned how to make pom-poms from yarn and went to town with a hot pink, mustard and gold color palette.

This was such a fun project! I'm really glad I didn't give up and was able to finish these before 2012 was over. There's a new Pay it Forward pledge floating around Facebook these days. Should I sign up again for 2013?

Have a great day! Tessa